by R. Twine
‘You’ve always been generous towards those who love you and serve you diligently and honestly,’ the woman acknowledged.
‘Your job is worthy of this treasure coming back to you,’ he said, nodding at the ring.
‘This time I won’t part with it, not for the world!’
The beautiful woman bowed, backed away and disappeared covering her face with a black cape.
Satanail returned to me and began, ‘Miriam, women have always played an important role in my fate after my expulsion from the Kingdom of Heaven. I’m going to let you in on a secret,’ he said smiling. ‘One clever and beautiful woman can be worth half of my treasures! Without women life loses its meaning. Remember, woman is the link between Heaven and Earth. The Father created a woman; and though she disobeyed Him, it was this very woman who gave birth to humanity. And it is only this woman who can put an end to all living beings, who can destroy those to whom she gave birth. Without woman’s influence nothing is possible either here,’ Satanail gestured at the ground, ‘or there,’ he said, pointing his finger upwards. ‘I was the first of the Angels to become aware of this, that’s why I seduced Eve who became the foremother of all Mankind; and she, after tasting the forbidden fruit, seduced Adam who opened a new world for himself, the world of good, evil and passion.’
Chapter 16
‘Miriam!’ Natalie beckoned me and gave me a big book in a slightly cracked brown binding. ‘I bought it in a second-hand bookshop. There were a lot of old editions but this one looked to me particularly interesting. I hope you’ll find it useful.’
‘Thanks, Nat. Is it in English?’
‘Yes, it is. There weren’t any books in French on subjects like this one. And this one was published in England,’ Natalie explained.
It was with curiosity that I thumbed through the book, and a strange passage on one of the pages caught my eye. I started reading it aloud:
“Satanail pushes man away from the Creator. People eagerly shift the burden of their sins onto Satan’s shoulders… Soul per se is never accused of anything. Because of its excessive interest in the Tree of Knowledge, mankind was punished and the Earth was cursed. The first human beings began their earthly life with a murder…”
‘Satanail is very cunning and he’s likely to deceive you in order to get something in return, Miriam,’ said Natalie. ‘Keep away from him because he’s dangerous. He’s such a mysterious creature. There’s clearly a lot more to his interest in you than there seems to be. I feel he’s interested in you not only as a mortal human being. Why is he so reverent in his attitude towards you? And so is the Archangel Michael, by the way. Miriam, could it be that you are supposed to help them, and not vice versa?’
I listened to my good friend, thinking that I wasn’t alone on my path and that I could always rely on her.
Meanwhile Natalie went on. ‘Miriam, what you need is complete detraction from all this, at least for some time. After all, you hardly ever go out, you stay in all the time, engrossed either in books or the internet.’
‘Parallel life is very addictive; now there are lots of questions swarming my head; questions I can’t find the answers to. Maybe, it’s just that I’m growing up and this causes some changes in me. Let’s go out somewhere, or just take a stroll,’ I suggested.
We made ourselves comfortable in a cozy café.
‘Yesterday a boy named Valentine from the parallel class asked me to the movies… Why are you laughing, really? He’s pretty cute, by the way. Everybody says he likes me, and, well, everybody in our class knows everything. Nothing can be kept secret!’ said Natalie trilling with laughter.
‘You are really something, Nat! Maybe, I should find myself a good-looking boy to ask me to the movies, too!’ I gave her a slight pinch on the shoulder and winked. ‘We two are grown-ups, after all. Nat, I’d like to live the life my schoolmates are living, too, and I’ll try to make up for lost time,’ I said, playfully shaking my hair back and sipping the fruit cocktail loudly.
****
Christmas came. I had planned to go with my girlfriends to a party due to be organized at the lycée where Natalie studied. It was the first time in years that I had ventured to go out. We agreed to meet аt Natalie’s place and to proceed from there to a festive carnival.
It was the first time that I felt grown up and beautiful. The cocktail dress I bought on the eve of the event accentuated my almost adult figure; the high-heeled leather boots made me look taller and slimmer. I pulled my hair back into a sophisticated ponytail – now I really looked like a full-fledged eighteen-year-old! Looking at me out of the mirror was a terrific girl! I stood marveling at myself, wondering why I hadn’t paid any particular attention to my appearance before. Why had I been ignoring what was given to me by nature? It was the first time that I examined myself from the outside, thinking how lucky I was to have been born so beautiful.
Having had enough of twirling in front of the mirror, I sprayed myself with Chanel perfume and went out into the hall where my granny and granddad were sitting.
‘Well, how do you find me?’ I asked, turning round and laughing.
‘You’re a bona fide beauty, Miriam!’ my granny exclaimed. ‘You’re so gorgeous that I cannot take my eyes off you!’
‘Well, my dear grandchild, you’ll always stand out of the crowd with your beauty. We somehow didn’t notice that you’ve already grown up!’ said my granddad.
‘Take care, Miriam,’ said my granny, snatching at the opportunity – as usual – to give me the same piece of advice. After I was attacked she’d been in a state of panicky fear for me.
‘My dear little granny, don’t worry about unfounded fears, because I’m not alone. You think my dress is too loud, don’t you?’
‘No, my dear, I don’t, because everybody dresses like this nowadays. After all, you’re very young, and I understand very well that it’s a usual thing at your age – the desire to stand out, to be conspicuous,’ my granny said with a smile.
‘Well, I’m off then.’
‘Wow!’ Natalie gave out a low whistle when she saw me. ‘I hardly recognize you. You look like a big time model! I think in a couple of years you’ll be able to get the job.’
‘Such beauty shouldn’t be wasted, really!’ agreed Elian, slightly dumbfounded.
‘I’m not in the least interested in becoming a model; this is not for me. I don’t feel like parading around half-naked in front of a crowd, let alone being constantly in the spotlight,’ I said in response.
‘You say this now, but you may well change your mind later on,’ Elian said doubtfully. ‘Beauty can’t be hidden, especially the kind of beauty that you have.’
The three of us entered the lycée which was a big and beautifully illuminated building. There was a high Christmas tree standing in the middle of a gigantic decorated hall. Quite a lot of people showed up, and I noticed that almost everyone there was looking at us attentively.
‘Hi, Nat.’ Two pretty girls with heavily made-up eyes came up to us.
‘Meet Elisa and Shana,’ said Natalie introducing her classmates. ‘This is Miriam and Elian, my girlfriends I told you about,’ she added, introducing us.
‘Nat often told me about you,’ Elisa said. ‘It’s a pity we study at different schools. You lived in Paris for some time, didn’t you, Miriam?’
‘I lived in Paris for more than a year and then talked my guardians into moving down here. I was born and raised in Cannes,’ I said and added, giving a quick glance at Nat who was standing close by, ‘My best friend remained there, and I felt so lonely without her… Your hall looks wonderful! Everything’s so festive!’ I said, trying to change the subject. ‘We’ve been decorating the hall all week after classes; I think we succeeded in making it look really beautiful,’ Shana said.
Loud music sounded behind us, and we turned sharply round – everybody was being invited to the table laden with all sorts of delicacies; sandwiches, cakes and soft drinks. The table was quickly surrounded by hungry students
.
‘Let’s go, or there’ll soon be nothing left for us to eat,’ called Shana.
‘Being hungry is your usual state! Don’t be so afraid, there’ll be enough food for everybody,’ Natalie said with a smile.
In half an hour the hall was swarming with people and buzzing with music and loud voices. All the students, standing in small groups, were engaged in lively discussions. It was quite difficult to tell the older from the younger ones because everybody looked like adults and tried to act accordingly. My new friends talked to each other, and I listened to their conversation with great interest while looking around from time to time.
‘Look, there’s Bruce standing over there…Oh, how I adore him!’ said Shana in a sweet voice, rolling her eyes upwards. She cast a stealthy glance at one of the boys. ‘He’s just magnificent! He’s cute, smart and, most important, he’s free. He’s the best catch in the school!’
‘How do you know he’s free? Bruce may be dating a girl from somewhere else, but he simply doesn’t think it’s necessary to report to you about it,’ said Shana’s friend Julia who joined us. ‘There are more girls than boys at our lycée, and that means there won’t be enough boys for all the girls anyway,’ she said laughing. ‘We have to look for them someplace else.’
‘Shana, you have to persevere for a couple more years, and then you’ll have a dozen like Bruce to choose from – take your pick. As for me, I don’t need anybody – my time’s too precious to be spent on them. Look at Nicole: she used to be quite a normal girl, but everything went wrong after she began dating Kim; she flunked her mid-term exams, besides there were constant squabbles with her parents. Poor thing looks simply exhausted; she cries a lot… What kind of love is that? And who the hell needs it?’ Julia was very categorical in her statement.
‘They already broke up. Now Kim has a new girlfriend, but Nicole has been walking around the school, her eyes full of tears, for quite a long time. We’ve still got our entire lives to live, and I, personally, after watching poor Nicole having so many problems, came to the conclusion that I don’t want to fall victim to such a masochistic kind of love. Generally speaking, almost every girl I know is plagued with problems while dating their boyfriends,’ summed up Irene, who was still another of Natalie’s schoolmates.
‘Well, you make it sound like love is something unnecessary, and every girl should just turn into an old spinster and stay that way till the end of her days! Then tell me, please, why were the two genders created, I mean, the female and male ones? Should they go their separate ways without noticing each other?’ Shana jumped in indignantly. ‘You reject love because you’re not sure somebody’s going to fall in love with you. Or you’re simply envious of Nicole. She’s a beautiful girl and, just for the record, it wasn’t only Kim who was interested in dating her; there was a whole crowd of boys running after her. True, her grades went down, but she learned about true love, and I don’t think she regrets having gone through this. Love is beautiful, and Nicole will have something to remember when she gets older.’
‘Relax, Shana, and don’t dig in your heels. I didn’t mean love is an unnecessary thing, I just wanted to say that it should come in due time,’ said Irene apologetically.
‘Well, if my time to love should come now, I’m not going to sit and wait, missing my chance. How do you know that it is only in two or three years that the man who will fall in love with you will come along? And who is your would-be soul-mate? Wouldn’t you like to tell me what he will look like?’ insisted Shana. ‘Not one of you knows this.’
‘You’re absolutely right, Shana,’ I agreed.
All the girls looked at me in astonishment.
‘Miriam?’ Natalie was bewildered. ‘Would you abandon everything if you fell in love with somebody?’
‘Certainly not; I would try to combine friendship and studies in such a way that they wouldn’t interfere with each other. I’m sure love is such a strong feeling that it is impossible to suppress it. And it’s not even about studies; it’s about your own attitude towards it. The main thing is what your perception of it is going to be. I’d like very much to learn what true love is. But certainly not now, later in life,’ I said seriously.
‘You really puzzle me,’ said Elian, who had been silent. ‘I couldn’t even imagine you thinking it over – it’s not very much like you. Now it turns out that you may be very different indeed!’
‘My parents loved each other very much, so much so that I cannot even remember if they ever quarreled. Dad often gave flowers to my Mom, and I sometimes saw how she was about to break into tears of joy at that moment. They had been dating for many years, but their love didn’t prevent them from graduating from university. My grandmother often told me they had been supporting each other. True feelings can’t be a hindrance to studies,’ I said confidently. ‘As for the conflicts with parents, I think that they’re mainly caused by the children being too young. You shouldn’t abandon your studies because of love; that’s where I totally agree with my parents.’
‘You were lucky to have such parents, Miriam,’ said Irene more calmly now. ‘But mine…They’re squabbling all the time, living a cat-and-dog life. I can’t even remember a single day they spent normally, without quarrelling. I guess they stopped loving each other a long time ago. It seems to me that it’s only in the beginning that relationships are smooth, but when passion calms down people start inventing their own problems and seeing only the bad sides of each other.’
‘How are you? I see you’re so absorbed in your conversation that you even totally ignore what’s going on around you,’ said Madame Yong, the headmaster, suddenly appearing in front of us.
‘But who do you think we are ignoring?’ asked Shana. ‘Do you mean to say we should pay attention to seniors?’
‘I didn’t mean that, Shana. You may join us if you want to…’ And the headmaster gestured at the teachers engaged in some heated debate with some students. ‘We are going to have several interesting competitions, and afterwards all of you will have the chance to dance,’ she promised, leaving.
Shana yawned. ‘It’s so damn boring here!’
‘Come on, Shana, let’s have some fun now we’re here,’ said Toya, a beautiful girl with short black hair. ‘Sure, all these festivities looked much more interesting to us when we were kids, but we all agreed to have this party, so let’s unwind and have some fun.’
After a quiz that lasted for an hour, the music was turned on once again. Blinking lights on the Christmas tree and bright multicolored garlands made the atmosphere more cozy and relaxed. Some students began dancing. Our little crowd broke up, and we drifted apart, including Natalie and Elian. I remained alone.
‘Are you a new student in our lycée?’ asked a pleasant voice. ‘I haven’t seen you before.’
‘I’m here with my friend Natalie. As a matter of fact, I study somewhere else.’
‘I see. Well, what’s your name then?’ asked the boy, matter-of-factly. It was clear he wasn’t the shy type and could make acquaintances with girls quite easily.
‘My name’s Miriam,’ I said with a smile.
‘It’s a fine name and it suits you perfectly.’
‘Thanks…’
‘My name’s Bruce, I’m a student at this lycée. And my friends are over there.’ He gestured at the boys involved in some heated argument. ‘You may join us if you feel like it.’
I was burning with curiosity. Bruce was very polite and had pleasant manners; besides he was exceptionally well-built and, in general, he was rather good-looking.
‘I do feel like it,’ I said. ‘The more, the merrier.’
‘Let’s go then!’
He took a step towards me and put out his hand. It was only then that I noticed that he was rather tall – my eyes were level with his broad shoulders in a tight turtle-neck sweater that accentuated his every muscle. Our glances met, and I noticed some confusion in his eyes. He was looking at me the way a boy looks at a girl he likes. His beautiful eyes were full o
f admiration.
‘OK, let’s go,’ I said quietly.
The touch of his fingers was like an electric shock to me; a hot wave hit me. I was at a loss, not knowing how to behave, for it was for the first time that I had experienced such an extraordinary feeling. Yielding to the strange instinct, I resolutely put my hand into his. And we went over to his friends.
‘This is Miriam, she’s our guest today,’ said Bruce, ceremoniously introducing me to his pals. I got acquainted with everybody and in a few minutes, began to mix in.
‘We can’t leave you on your own for an instant!’ Natalie’s voice came from behind my back. ‘Elian and I went outside to make a telephone call, and when we returned you’d already disappeared.’
‘Don’t worry, Miriam’s in reliable hands,’ Bruce smiled broadly, baring his snow-white teeth.
The guys went on with their heated argument concerning some sports celebrities; I was listening to the various opinions with great interest when I suddenly felt somebody’s piercing stare upon my back. I turned round and saw that Shana was furious: she stood a little way behind me looking with envy at me and Bruce sitting together. Our eyes met. Tears of anger and pain welled up in hers. She stood up abruptly and left the hall.
Meanwhile I was totally focused on Bruce. Everything in him was to my liking: his voice, his smile, his face! Only an hour had passed since we had met each other, but I was already feeling a strong attraction to him. I wanted to prolong our conversation. ‘‘How interesting,’’ I thought. ‘‘This strange thrill – that’s something completely new to me! Something wonderful is happening to me! And I like the change that’s taking place!’’
‘Miriam,’ Natalie called to me. ‘My folks will be here in fifteen minutes to pick me up.’
‘Leaving so soon?’ asked Bruce, regret in his voice. ‘Such a pity you’re not going to stay till the end of the party… He leaned to me and whispered in my ear. ‘I’d like to tell you something face to face, – would you mind going with me to the corridor for five minutes?’